— Queer Supplement Joy's coming out story It is Wednesday today. PE day. I put on the outfit I carefully chose. Track pants by Reebok and an Adidas T- shirt. The pants are comfort- able; the T-shirt is even flattering to my figure. But this is not me. I go through the day feeling like a faker. Like it’s Halloween and I've come as Sporty Spice. You see, I'm not an athlete. My idea of exercise is a leisurely walk along the beach on a sunny day. I feel uncomfort- able all day in these comfort- able pants until I can go home and slip into a pair of jeans. This is me. Living life in the closet is kind of like this. You wander through the day pretending to be something you are not. It’s like wearing an itchy wool sweater all day and you can’t wait to take it off when you get home. When I was accepted into teacher education, I debated with myself about being out. I didn’t need to be, in the sense that my partner is the opposite sex. As a married woman, it is auto- matically assumed that I am straight. And maybe that’s part of the problem. The thing is, I could have just as easily married a woman as a man. And if I had, we would not have the privilege of walking down the street hand-in-hand without fear. The other thing is, if I really that important to me to identify as bi-sexual? My faculty advisor recently told me that my sponsor teacher for my don't feel comfortable enough to be out, how can my future students, or parents of students, or fellow staff? Teachers are supposed to be role models, after all. Being out is not something you decide to do once-and-for-all, and then it’s over. Being out is a conscious, contemplated decision, made multiple times in a day. Despite the fact that I wear a BiPride pin on my backpack, many people either don't clue in or don't notice. Each time I am in a new situation, the questions arise in my head: Is it safe to do this? Will I be jeopardising my career? Is it worth it? Is it Queer News MATTHEW SHEPARD UP- DATE MORE ON MATT’S PAR- ENTS GOING PUBLIC Information has been leaking out all week about Matt's parents’ various interviews. Apparently, they've gone public and told the media that Matt tested MATT’S MOM JOINS CROSS- COUNTRY TREK Judy Shepard has announced the “International Hike Against Hate and Violence”, a 2,500 mile Alaska-to-Laramie journey to begin in June. The hike will take a “Flame of Hope” from Skagway, Alaska, on June 3 practicum is “very religious.” He warned me not to say anything against religion around her. Warning bells went off in my head. What if she was a Surrey school board type? I have been working on an inclusive unit on family for kindergarten to grade one. Would my sponsor teacher be receptive to me teaching her students that gay and lesbian families are normal? My WYOMING KILLS HATE CRIMES BILL FOR YEAR According to the Associated Press on February 3, “four months after gay college student Matthew Shepard was beaten to death, a move to pass a hate crimes bill in Wyoming was scuttled Wednesday by a legislative committee. The committee killed two bills, and support- to Laramie on Oct. 12, whena ers said that ended their ceremony as well as lighting HIV positive after his death— of a permanent flame are and that he likely was unaware that he was infecte They also will apparently say tonight on NBC that ‘Tt'sa very frightening concept as a parent that your son now becomes a martyr, a public figure for the world,” Judy Shepard told Dateline NBC, “He's just our son.” His mother also said: ‘You must understand, it’s like putting him on a pedestal that just won't work. I’m concerned that if people find out that it’s not true, they'll be a planned. disappointed or angry or hate him.” She also explained that Matt was clinically depressed. hopes for the year. State lawmakers have rejected similar measures four times since 1995.” GAY GROUP OP- faculty advisor seemed to know her pretty well, so I went to him and asked the question that was on my mind. It didn’t come out very well. “Do you ' know if she is homophobic? I mean, not that being religious necessarily means that she is, but it does make it more likely, and I was just wondering if you knew...” I stood there with my heart pound- ing, waiting for reassurance that this was an open- minded individual who was very accepting of others. “Well, I don't know,” he said, “but I don’t see any reason for that to come up. Your sex life is your own business. I wouldn't give up this practicum if I were you. Don't worry, I'll watch out for you.” This was not the response I was looking for. Many people don’t understand that sexual orientation extends beyond the bedroom. They figure if Watch, issued a challenge to other gay rights organiza- tions to take a similar stance against capital punishment in the high-profile case....In a telephone interview Michael Petrelis, a Queer Watch member in San Francisco, denounced the ‘continuing silence of prominent gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered organizations” about capital punishment. Putting anyone to death for the murder of Shepard is just as barbaric as tying the victim to a fence post and leaving him to die in sub-zero temperatures; he said.” IN OTHER NEWS (THIS IS MY NON- MATT-RE- POSES DEATH | ateD GAY PENALTY FOR KILLERS According to the Casper Star-Tribune, “a national gay rights organization has condemned an Albany County prosecutor's decision to seek RIGHTS NEWS PARA- GRAPH) This week a very interesting, and disturbing, controversy broke out when the death penalty against two Kirby Frank of Atlanta found men accused of killing a gay University of Wyoming student. The group, Queer a sweepstakes on a Microsoft- partnered Web site that offered a free trip to the the gay community just kept it quiet and didn’t “flaunt” it, then things would be better. If sexual orientation were only about one’s active sex life, there would be no reason for me to identify as bisexual. To me sexual orientation is about commu- nity, about families, about living, about personal iden- tity. It affects how you look at the world, and how the world looks at you. Sexual orientation is so much more than just sex. When you are wearing an itchy sweater all day long, all you can think about is taking it off. You are dis- tracted, irritable, frustrated. You have less of yourself to give because you are so obsessed with getting it off. Your work suffers that day; your friends wonder what is wrong with you. However, you can’t tell them about the sweater, and how much it hurts, and how you have scratches all over your body, and you are developing an allergic reaction. This is life in the closet. It is not a life I choose, and I hope that by my choosing to be out, I give others the permission to do the same. Caribbean, sponsored by US Airways, for one lucky couple. Unfortunately, whe Frank checked out the fine print, it explained that the “couple” had better be a man and a woman. Incensed that Microsoft and US Airways could endorse such discrimi- nation, Frank set off a chain of events that eventually ensnared Yahoo!, Online Vacation Mall, a number of fragrance companies, and more. The companies are apologizing left and right (well, at least some of them) - and now the ACLU and a prominent DC Internet lawye have said that civil rights laws may have been broken, number of industry repre- sentatives are very nervous. Read more about this ongoiry injustice at (http:// www. wiredstrategies.com/ resort. html).